 Hey everyone. Welcome to my show Friday PM. My name is Luigi Scarcelli. We got a great show for you tonight I'm here with Derry Rundlitt. A veteran of the station, a gentleman who's had a show here for about 20 years. 20 years or so. 20 years. So you know this place like the back of your hand. I love this place, but I also enjoyed the place that you are well aware of up on Oak Street when we first began. I like this place a lot. I like the way you set up the lights here today. Yeah, it's a great studio. So I just wanted to get a chance to talk to you a little bit about your life, your career, your life as a lawyer. Just kind of get into it and see what we mine from it. Probably not much, but anyway. Well first of all I was born right here in Portland just up the street and spent my elementary years here until my father passed away in 58 and I've said before that I used to eat in a restaurant right across the street that you and I were at the very spot and it wasn't a Chinese place. It was a drug store. I used to look across the street this building. I never dreamed that my lifelong dream of having a TV show would be across the street from that spot. That was literally within weeks after my father passed away and then I moved on and went to Bowdoin College. So that's the first 22 years right there. Right. We're going fast through it. So you were at Bowdoin College. I know that that was an all men's school at the time. Is that correct? I didn't realize how much I thought that was a good idea at the time, but I remember sitting in class going, so how come I don't hear a feminine voice? And it was a little strange for me. I liked it a lot though. But yeah, it was all male until 71 and they went to Coed. Now they are completely 50-50 Coed and it's a wonderful school. And there was no teachers that were women. It was all men teachers. No, that's right. That's another major flaw in my opinion. No, they were all male professors. And I think you had said that there was like the Sons of Bowdoin. It was kind of a... Oh yeah, it was a song. Rise, Sons of Bowdoin. They don't sing that song anymore. They change the words. Rise, people of Bowdoin or whatever. They had to change a few things. They had to change a lot of things. And I have to tell you something for the better. It is wonderful to see that school. The women's basketball teams and the sports teams and all the stuff that they're doing. I mean, I'm very pleased to see Bowdoin as a Coed school. It's a great place. And so you were at Bowdoin. Then you jumped from Bowdoin to Humane Law. Well, between that though, I graduated from Bowdoin. I had to go in the service for a while. Correct. So I had a stay period and I went to work for Channel 6 television and account executive. But I wanted to be on the air. Trust me, they didn't want to put me on the air. They were happy to be selling TV time. And then I went to law school and ended up going to Maine. I was accepted to other schools but ended up wanting to be in Maine and went to Maine. And I loved Maine Law School and made a lot of good friends. So let's go back to that. You were in the service. This was during Vietnam. Yeah, but I was in the reserve. So the closest I got to Vietnam was California. Right. I like being in the service, I'll tell you. Yeah. I wanted to describe myself well in the movie Animal House. I was having a fun time at Bowdoin. Right. And when I got in the service and started crawling in the dirt and shooting weapons and pretending to kill people's knives and bayonets. I'll tell you, I was so far out of my league. But you can't. You have to play the pie. Because you had said that when you were undergraduate at Bowdoin, whether or not that was even the time of the war, when you were in law school, there was no way to get out of being in the draft. That's right. Because when I was at Bowdoin, first went to Bowdoin, if you went to law school, you get deferred. And then that changed when Vietnam. They could get medical school deferments and I think being a priest or something, or a minister, possibly a teacher but not law students. And they even said on TV, by the way, are you guys thinking you're going to go to law school? No, you're going to be drafted. And they were doing it by the number. Right. Birthday lottery. And so I was very fortunate. Somebody called, I was on the radio at Bowdoin and I was doing a rock and roll show. Somebody kindly called me when I made a joke and said, there was a reserve in the open. I don't know who that person is, but I would give them a lot of money today if I ever had them. Seriously, if you're out there, if you're out there, give me a call. I owe you a solid, as they say. And so you had said that after the time of being in the service, that's when you started your career as a city attorney, is that correct? Yeah, I was assistant corporation counsel. That was my official title. And I was fortunate then because John Monario was city manager and he was a wonderful man. And there was a wonderful counsel, Leslie McVane, on the TV studio. Her father was on the city council. They had really good people on the council. And I did most of the trial work and their labor litigation. So I got to be in the courtroom a lot, representing a nice client. The city was almost always right. So it was easy to represent somebody who was probably trying to do things right. So you worked for the city and was that about when you decided to go into private practice? Yes, I was there for a few years and went into private practice. I became a member of a trial firm and we had a living to do with the courtroom, divorces and criminal cases of personal injury and civil litigation and probate litigation. I remember that you had said that at the time. I mean, you got pretty well known as a trial lawyer. Yeah. I had described you when we were talking before as the tough lawyer, but that's not exactly, they thought of you as the very meticulous lawyer. Well, first of all, when you're a young attorney, it was sort of nice to be known as a badger or a go-getter or whatever, a barrack where those names are. Because you're doing a lot of cases that are coming in your office. Right, exactly. But no, then later I got, you know, getting a personal injury where I represented plaintiffs that have been injured and I took it very seriously because you're representing victims. And I did a fair amount of divorces. And so, yeah, I tried a lot of cases and I was proud to win the Legend Award by Terry Gami, my dear, dear friend, and also co-host on my TV show here. And once you win that award, it's like winning the Nobel Prize, you feel like, you know, it's just such an honor. So thank you for mentioning that. Yeah, I know a lot of lawyers are more involved in dealing with insurance and settlements, but you didn't mind getting into the court and kind of duking it out. Well, let me put this way. You should be trying to settle your cases. When you settle a case, your client doesn't go through all the difficulties of a trial. You know, they don't like it. It's not fun to be in a court if you're the client. The lawyer we're used to, you know, it's like being on the stage. But it's not a fun experience for the average person. And so you try to resolve your cases. And we have a process in place now that's wonderful. It's called mediation. And most ordinary cases will settle in mediation. Now, catastrophic cases like medical negligence and product liability, where there's a lot on the line, those often have to go all the way to trial. But in the early days, we were taking small cases, the court, 20,000, 30,000, 50,000. And you could get a jury trial and you're 32 years old. And now, first of all, there are very few civil jury trials now because of COVID. And so they're all backed up and they've got to get them up. And so I feel bad for young lawyers these days and not getting into the courtroom and trying jury trials. I get to try many jury trials in my career. Not as many as some attorneys, but quite a few. And it's quite an experience. But I was fortunate because I had, most of my cases, I had good clients and good cases. But I thought that what the audience really wants to learn more about is your career in TV and some of the interesting folks that you've met. And that's where we wanted to take this discussion. Yeah, that's a long answer. But I can just tell you, this place became my dream come true as a child, even when I was in college. I wanted more than anything else to be on TV. I wanted to be like Johnny Carson. I don't care what your name. Game show host, whatever. And that's when I went to work for Channel 6. I was not in their minds. And I didn't really ask to be on the air. I kind of hinted at it. But I said, I did apply for the job of a weatherman. And they didn't give me that. So I'm very fortunate to have a law partner, Ken, whose wife came up with the idea. And he came up with the idea of a show called Law on the Line. This is 1999 or something, 22. And so we had lunch with Tommy Handel. And the next thing we know, we're doing that show together at Oak Street. And Ken Altshield was my first co-host. And then he went on to bigger and better things as a co-host of the most listened to talk show in Maine. And then, and so I kept the thing going. And then it became the Dairy Run That Show. And now I got that and me on five. And to me, it's a very fun experience. But I have met some good people. You know, I like to always drop the name of Refli Bailey. I had the last interview with him before he passed away. I'm very proud to know him. It was by coincidence that I would have had that last interview. But he was, in my opinion, a wonderful guest. And then you got the governors of the Baldachi and Mills who had them on. And Brenda Lee, my friend who sings Rockin' on the Christmas Tree and Don Campbell. And God, I once was an ad in the paper and all the people I've had on the show. I've been so fortunate. You're going to enjoy this so much. There's nothing more fun than talking to wonderful people. So you did have, we talked about that. You had the last ever interview with Refli Bailey before he passed away. Refli Bailey, well known for OJ case. Wasn't he involved in something like the Son of Sam way back when or something? Well, he was a Boston strangler. Of course, he had many stars. Many stars he represented over the years. But those are the ones that people remember. And of course, the fugitive was based on his case. But no, he had hundreds of cases that people probably never would have even heard about. But also big cases. I mean, it's safe to say that Refli Bailey is probably the first celebrity lawyer in a sense that he became also. Well, you say, what about Abe Lincoln and John Kennedy? But I have said this on my show, and I'm going to say it on this show. I consider him to be the greatest trial lawyer in American history by none. And I'm throwing in Clarence Darrow and everybody else you want to put in, John Adams. And it's primarily because of all of his accomplishments. Not just the major ones, but, you know, his life as a pilot, all of these things that he did, all of his incredible work in civil rights. One of his best friends was Harry Belafonte. And so he's not only defending people, whatever, but he's also advocating the right cause. The rights of people, the rights of trial by jury and stuff. And I was just very, very pleased to know him. I went to his memorial service with Rob Baldacci and Steve Schwartz. I'll tell you something. It was a wonderful experience to hear. Really nice people say nice things about him. And he got criticized and vilified, not only for OJ, but he had some problems with the bar. And I consider it a travesty. They never became a lawyer in Maine, but that's another story for another time. It's a story for another time, exactly. And I know you talk, finally, is it Brenda Lee? She is a very dear friend. She called me last week and left me a voicemail singing her hit, I'm sorry. I met her on a rock and roll cruise in 2014. And we just became friends. And then my wife and I went down and visited her. Then we went to Las Vegas with her. And then we went on a cruise with her. And then we've been to Atlantic City with her. And we've been, stayed at her house in Nashville. And she was the number one female singer of the 60s. Really? Yeah. She was the number one female, only the Beatles partially beat her in terms of record sales. And then she went into country shows. She's also the only singer to be in the rock and roll Hall of Fame and the country Hall of Fame as well as the rock and billy Hall of Fame. Of course her Christmas song, Rock Around the Christmas Tree has been the number two song. Well, it was number one until Mariah Carey came up with it. Mariah Carey's one, exactly. She's a sweet-ass, she's a wonderful person. She's just as nice as she can be, like a sister. But recently you had some rather, some people might think of unsavory characters, but not everybody would. But you sat down with some interesting fellows. Yes. On this very studio, we had just a couple of guys that referred to themselves. And one of them referred to was a former mob boss from Philadelphia and Boston. And they were well-known and served time. And Rob Baldacci arranged that. He happened to know them. And so Rob arranged that interview and did it with me. I've got to tell you, it was an incredible experience because you're asking the tough questions. Right. And for those of us that are in our 70s, one of the most incredible bank heists in history, of course, was this Isabella Stewart Gardner. Right. And it's still a mystery. They don't know who did it. Right. They don't know where the paintings are. Yeah. And so I was sitting there with them and I said, I say that, Isabella Stewart Gardner. And they start laughing. And we get into the fact that they, yeah, they're pretty sure they have some inkling of who. And tell me everything. But I just thought it was amazing because I had always wanted to myself. Does anybody know? And was that then? And plus they were quite descriptive of their involvement in Maine and in England back, which was ancient history for some people. But for me, the 90s are not that far back. Wasn't that far back? To me, in my mind. So, but you weren't at all worried about, you end up in the river or anything like that? Oh geez, you know, I swear to God, Tom Handel of the station said, Terry, I said, well, first of all, you know, Rob Baldacci, I don't know if many people know him, but you know, he's, you know, I'm going to call him a force to be reckoned with. Right. And so it was his brothers. I didn't mean that in a nice way. I sort of felt pretty protected. I don't, let me put it this way. I'm going to be frank with you. I wouldn't have done that show by myself. Right. No, I said to Rob, well, Rob, you're going to do it with me. And he was, oh yeah. So, yeah. And these guys have been out of the business for a while? Well, but these guys have their own podcast, by the way. Right. They're already stars in their own right. So coming up here was not like they, you know, like this was a step down for them. Right. To deal with the Terry Remlitz. Right. But we enjoyed it though. They enjoyed it. I definitely wanted to talk about your relationship also with Bobby right now. Thank you. Yeah. Yes. Also a friend that I met on the rock and roll cruise. And it was just a dream come true for me. When I was in school, I used to listen to him when I was in high school. And, you know, hey, turn the radio. I've been with my friend right now. And then I always wanted to be friends with Frank Sinatra. And to me, I, the dear God said, yeah, too old. I'm going to give you someone your age. And that would be Bobby right. That was 80. This next coming month. And I'm right now working on a project for him that we hope will take place, which would be a musical about his life like the Jersey boys and the buddy Holly Storing and Tina Turner and Dion's got one going now. And Neil Diamond's got one going. And his story is definitely one that would make a great musical. He had a lot of hits and the big thing about his life was that he had organ transplants and survived through those organ transplants. He came back on stage, back to sell out shows in Vegas, back to sell out shows on the cruise ships and down itself. And as the golden boys a band stand. Golden boys. And here he is with Frankie Avalon and Fabian. And I also know Frankie Avalon. I've been backstage with him. And but Ry Dell is a story into himself. And I texted him last night and he's the most responsive person to me in text in terms of time response. Like all the people I know, he usually gets back to me within a minute. He gets right back. So to me that's a lot of fun to know him because he is very much Frank Sinatra like. He is treated like Frank Sinatra. He acts like Frank Sinatra because they were friends. And I don't mean a copycat but I mean he has that Italian bravado and he loves people and people love him. And he's an icon. He's on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And to me I'm just very honored to know him. And but I was introduced to him by a dear friend Bob Culloch of the Happenings and Bob Culloch is a best friend. And you know he's the one that actually got me into that club. So I have to pay homage to Bob Culloch because he's the one that brought me into being a circle. That's a good club to be in. Yeah I've always wanted to be there. I met him and we became friends. And he said you want to come backstage. And there was a little letterman in the tokens. And the next thing you knew I was in the club. It's kind of a fun thing because in a minute we're going to talk about another upcoming legal procedure that you're involved in. It's not as fun as that one but it's going to be important. We'll save that for a minute. That's the Waterville case. But I didn't want to talk to you about your involvement over the years in the senior games. That's kind of an interesting thing. Yeah another dream come true when I was in high school. I ran track and I was captain of my track and cross country team. And then went to Bowden and ran track and I had a mediocre career there. And then ran distances and then in 2001 I switched to the sprint. So I got a trainer and I started running a hundred and two hundred and a four hundred. The fast races. I liked those a lot. I always wanted to do that anyway. And I ended up winning a lot of state titles in here and New Hampshire and some national titles. And I got a silver world medal and the Huntsman World Games and the Huntsman World Senior Games. I got a silver medal in the 200. And I just started enjoying it very much. In 2015 I was in the first class of inductees of the main senior games Hall of Fame which was an unbelievable dream come true. I always wondered in high school I wasn't that great in high school. I was okay but not great. And I was wondering what I would really like to be considered good enough to be in a Hall of Fame. So I'm still very much involved in the senior games. I'll be sponsoring the track meet that's going to be held at St. Joe's. So I've been either the state champion or a medalist for the last 21 years but I've been beaten by some very, very good men. In the last race I ran I got a gold or silver or bronze and the guys who beat me one had just had a hot operation like I don't know four months before. Another one had spine surgery. Another one had survived cancer. And those are the three of the guys who beat me. They beat you, right? Exactly. And that's crazy. That's how good they were. How bad I was. But I'll tell you that's a story unto itself I thought. So I wanted to also just talk about it's a little more serious of a case, the case that you guys are working on about the missing child in Waterville. Yes, about 11 years ago, a little more than 10 years ago a little girl was missing out of her home in Waterville. There was a national news for many weeks. The Attorney General investigated that case. They had forensic people from all over the United States come here, like the best of the best. They could not find the body of the child. There was a ledge that she was kidnapped but the police investigated that aspect. And the bottom line is that our firm has brought suit in that case against individuals that we think are responsible. And I don't do much of the discussion about it. My partner Bill Childs is in charge of the case. Right, right. But there's a wrongful death action and other actions involving other people that we believe evidence points to the fact that people knew what happened to that child and that they failed to provide the right evidence. And so that's going to be a civil trial, not a criminal trial. Right, a civil trial. This is not, there will be no guilty verdict or any of that nature will be, did these people have any involvement in what happened to that child? Our client is the mother of the child and she's lost a child who would be like 12 years old or something I think around now. This case has been going on for a long time. But the one thing that you'll never hear or shouldn't hear anybody do when they're talking to the press is to posture and say, oh well, some people do that. But it would be inappropriate for me to discuss where this is going to go and what's going to happen. State isn't very much in the sort of, not the beginning stages of the process, but it's in, and there's a lot of work involved. Thank you for asking about it. Yeah, I think a lot of people find it to be very interesting. Well, it's going to be national news. That we know. We're already aware that this case is going to be national news no matter what happens here. It's the way it is, because it was then. And people are always, always, always, always concerned about missing children that are unaccounted for. It's a very strong thing that people in, not just Maine, but throughout the country, are very concerned what happened to that child. And, you know, with all the things that go on, and people just want to know, did an accident happen? Did a what happen to that child? And so, yeah. Having some kind of a closure is the most important thing. I have to say, how many times have you heard that word? But I didn't want to throw out a cliche. Right, right. And again, I'm only a spokesperson for my firm in general. I'm not a spokesperson for my partner. I was in charge of this case. Believe me, he knows what he's doing. And I hope to take part in the case and continue to take part. But I'll tell you, it's, you know, this is not a walk in the park. This is not, you know, we're not out here just to have a good time here. This is a serious business. And speaking of closure and closing the book, let's close this interview by talking about your books. You've written a few books and I... Yes. Well, my first book was a law book about personal injury cases, and it's called Maximizing Diameters in Personal Injury Cases. It's basically how to handle an ordinary case that you have. It's not catastrophic. They're different when they're catastrophic. But this is the ordinary case. The cases you hear about and people get some injuries, but they recover. And I wrote that book in 1991, and then they wanted 26 supplements. So it's a long, it's a big, it's a thick book. It started out selling for 60 bucks, and now it's like, I don't know, 500 or something. But I'm very proud of that because it has over $2 million in sales. Right. But the reason I'm proud of it, because the irony of it is, when I first wrote it, my law party says, how much money do you think this book will sell? I said, I don't know, $5,000? And well, it's ended up being $2 million. Right. And the other book is about my daughter and myself. It's called Full Circle, a father's journey with a transgender child. And that book's on Amazon, and this is about her transition from male to female. And she's now, has moved to Maine, so there's another chapter. She's now living five miles from me. Five miles from her. It's like the greatest epilogue of forever book ever to be written. Did you, when you were growing up, did you think that you would be a prolific writer like this? Oh, I swear, I hope so, but I didn't know, I wrote murder mysteries when I was at college. And Luigi, I sent them off to like every magazine, and Alfred, his cop, whatever, they all came back rejected. I now read them now, and I realize they went that good. I write better now, and I write articles with Cape Curiam, and I write articles for some magazines sometimes. Look for Derry on PMC, Channel 5. Is there any different times to find you? They're all over the place. You can find them anytime, as well as online. Check out Derry's books, Full Circle, and What Was the Law? Well, they're not going to want the personal injury. If you're a lawyer, if you happen to be a lawyer, check out the book about law, but otherwise, definitely check out Full Circle. Look for Derry. I want to thank you very much for your time, Derry. It was great talking to you. Take care, everybody. Have a good night. Thanks a lot.